From Linquan Castle to the smelting base camp, there is a super wide avenue, which is equivalent to the highway of modern society.

At the foot of the mountain, the road narrowed.

When you get to the level, you don't have to go in.

Outside the checkpoints, there are troops stationed to protect the checkpoints and intersections from enemy invasions. Over here! Peacetime, it is on standby 24/7, and it is in a state of first-level combat readiness.

Bai Gui and the others came on horseback, and the guards came over in advance to report. This side of the checkpoint has been prepared, and "martial law" is on. All the vehicles that pull goods, whether they are in or out, are parked in the parking lot for me.

Knowing that the white officials had returned, the people in the convoy were very conscious, and after driving the carriage to the parking lot, they all stood outside the cordon and looked towards the road.

Saw! The white officials came over in front of the guards. That formation is no less than the travel of the Son of Heaven and the King.

"White officials! White officials! White officials! ”

After seeing the white officials coming, everyone waved their arms and shouted at the white officials.

"Hello everyone!" Baekyu also waved in response.

"Hello white officials!"

Inside, the experts on the smelting side learned that the white officials were coming, and they all put down their work at hand and ran out to "line up" to welcome.

"White officials! White officials! White officials! Everyone waved their arms and cheered.

Baekyu dismounted and shook hands with the experts. And then! Access to the reception room. The people inside hurriedly offered tea and snacks, and then went to prepare the food and drinks.

"Is there any progress on the iron?" Bai Gui asked with concern.

An expert shook his head and said, "If you go back to Bai Guanren, there is no progress for the time being." We are transferring all kinds of ores from Zhoudi and smelting them to see if we can change the quality of iron? ”

"Yes! White officials! Although our smelting technology here is very advanced, and we are also working hard, after all, it is not as good as Zhoudi! We have too few ore varieties. I want to conduct a variety of tests, but there are not enough varieties. So! It's hard to think of a breakthrough for a while. ”

"Our side is too remote, and there are few rare earths! Alas! ”

The experts tested the ores that had been discovered, the ores that could be smelted with iron, and the results! Still unable to break through.

After all! Minerals here are too limited.

If you are around, you can find a variety of minerals. And then! Fusion tests are performed. So! Sometimes! In the process of smelting, adding some soil and other land, it is often successful in smelting.

So! Some experts call this soil "rare earth".

If you can forge a sword, why can't you make iron into steel?

To know! Some of the minerals used to forge swords are too small in quantity. Furthermore! The process of forging swords is too complex for mass production.

So! It's impossible to make everything as hard as a sword.

As for the casting of bronze, Bai Gui was satisfied.

During this period, the bronze manufacturing process was basically mature.

After catching up with the experts, it's time to talk about smelting. After eating and resting for a while, Bai Gui walked around the smelting base camp. The experts are busy and don't have time to stay with him all the time.

On the side of the copper products warehouse, there is a lot of product inventory, which can fully meet the needs of the northern market.

The bronze ware cast here is specially made for the northern nomads. In terms of shape, it is different from Zhoudi's products. The steppe people have the living customs of the steppe people, they are a people on horseback. So! Their household utensils are different from those of the surrounding land in shape.

And also! The pattern is also different.

Although the people of the steppe nomads hate wolves, they are still in awe of them. Wolf! It's their totem.

There are also nomadic peoples who are especially in awe of the eagle on the steppe and regard the eagle as their totem.

There are also nomadic people, who are in awe of birds. So! Birds are their totems.

There are also nomadic people, who have a kind of reverence for horses, camels and other animals. So! They treat these animals as totems.

In order to respect the complexes of different nomadic peoples, bronze-making experts designed these patterns on the bronzes. Outcome! This kind of bronze ware with their totems is particularly easy to sell.

On the side of the armory, there are also a lot of iron weapons in stock. Most of them are long weapons such as spears and broadswords.

Right now! Except for some of the iron mined in Lan Gongzi's ranch, which was transported to various places for scientific research, the rest was processed into weapons, wheels and other military equipment in the smelting base camp.

After looking at the situation at the smelting plant, Bai Gui went to see the living conditions of the people in the base camp.

In the smelting base camp, a very large bazaar has been formed.

There are at least four or five thousand people living here, and the population is concentrated together. So! The bazaar is crowded all day and night.

The teahouse in the bazaar has people drinking tea all day and night. It's the same at the liquor store, where people drink since the morning market.

At noon and in the evening, the restaurants in the bazaar do their best.

Bazaar! The weakest business is the inn.

Because the population mobility is small, idle people cannot enter. So! There is not much business at the inn. But! Most inns are in the restaurant business. The general restaurant, for the convenience of guests, also operates an inn business.

The vegetables in the market used to be imported from outside, from the Linquan. Right now! It's all cultivated by the people inside.

In terms of staple food, because the population inside is too large and dense, and the cultivated area is small, it is still necessary to import it from the outside. The land inside is mostly used for growing vegetables.

In the smelting base camp, it is more profitable to grow vegetables than food crops. There is only a small amount of land that is cultivated by the cultivators who grow it for their own consumption, and the grain they cultivate will not be sold.

The thatched houses in the smelting base camp are decreasing little by little. Stone and timber houses are increasing little by little.

Because there is a need for construction inside, so! There are many craftsmen and workers in the construction of houses. People here are all coming in to work, and there is no hukou inside.

Building a house requires a large number of stonemasons who extract stone from the back mountains for use in the foundation and related aspects of the house.

Building a house requires a lot of wood, so! There is a need for a lot of lumberjacks and carpenters. Lumberjacks bring down trees from the hill and sawn them to the right size. It is then transported down the mountain and handled by carpenters.

In addition to these craftsmen, there are the craftsmen who build houses and the workers who do coolies.

In addition to these people, craftsmen from all walks of life have also been born.

Although there are only a few thousand people, the sparrows are small but have all kinds of organs, and they need everything. So! There are people from all walks of life.

On the streets of the bazaar, there are craftsmen who cut and make clothes, as well as merchants who sell silk and linen. There are luxury stores where you buy jewelry, and there are shops that make ornaments.

In short, there are one in all walks of life. And! Business is not bad.

Thereinto! There are many people in the industry, who are family members or others from the smelter. Even if the business is not doing well, they don't care. In this business, they are treated as amateurs to earn extra money.

(End of chapter)